MEDIA ALERT: Charmaine Quoted in AP Video;
Obama's Human Experimentation
on Embryonic Stem Cells
March 10, 2009 | By Jack Yoest
Charmaine is quoted by AP in this video release,
Visit the AP video site.
Alert Reader D.,Ph.D., writes,
[Congress Reps] now admit that adult stem cells can do some things--bone marrow, blood--but then [always] say that ASC can't do everything, while ESCs have potential to form all cell types, ergo can treat all diseases, etc.[They always] trot out the "scientific party line"--Most scientists believe that ESC have the most potential. A variation is that we shouldn't limit science, that we should investigate all avenues. [etc., etc.,]
Again, this ignores both ethics & real science.
The real science shows that ASC treat patients for many more things than just bone marrow & blood conditions. The real science also shows that the pluripotent fliexibility of ESC is actually a hindrance in the clinic, with possible tumors.
The real science also shows that the iPS cell technology produces cells that look & act just like ESC, but can be made easier, cheaper, & directly from a patient for study of the disease in the lab
And the ethics says that just because something might be interesting science, doesn't mean that we allow it.
See Culture Watch, Bill Muehlenberg's commentary on issues of the day..., Babies No, Whales Yes
And the technology has moved beyond embryonic stem cell research anyway. For several years now a much more effective method - and one that does not involve destroying an embryo - has been in use. What is known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) has been on the table now since at least November 2007.This new method allows a patient's skin cells to be genetically altered and reprogrammed to a pluripotent state. Pluripotent cells are those which have the ability to develop into any type of somatic cell. These iPS cells can basically do everything embryonic stem cells can, without the taking of human life.
Thus Obama is backing a dead horse here. His move was really one of ideology, not science. This is unethical politics at its worst. The way ahead is with ethical stem cell science, not the old, unethical, and unfruitful route using embryonic stem cells.
Pro-Life Groups Blast Obama for Funding Research Destroying Human Life,
They said Obama ignored the ethical considerations as well as adult stem cells and other alternatives that are actually helping patients. Recent advances in reprogramming cells -- induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) -- only bolster the case that this new policy is nothing short of wasteful, pro-life advocates say."Embryonic stem cell research is the research of the past. Millions of dollars have been spent on embryonic stem cell research and it has failed," Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest told LifeNews.com.
"To pour more money into it is simply a waste." "If we're going to put tax dollars into research -- particularly at a time of unprecedented federal deficits -- it needs to be research that protects life and helps patients now," she said.
"Even more, this research destroys lives at the very earliest stage of development. Adult stem cell research is helping people now," Yoest added.
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